The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to medical imaging systems, and more particularly to Nuclear Medicine (NM) imaging systems which can be Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) imaging systems.
In NM imaging, such as SPECT imaging, radiopharmaceuticals are administered internally to a patient. Detectors (e.g., gamma cameras), typically installed on a gantry, capture the radiation emitted by the radiopharmaceuticals and this information is used to form images. The NM images primarily show physiological function of, for example, the patient or a portion of the patient being imaged.
Conventional SPECT imaging systems include one, two or three gamma cameras mounted to a single gantry. These systems are generally not physically reconfigurable. The gamma cameras (also referred to as heads) are formed from particular materials. In the selection of material, tradeoffs must be made, such as imaging sensitivity, size, cost, etc. Additionally, specific collimation may be provided, which typically limits the application of the scanner to a particular type of scan, such as whole body bone exams, cardiac exams, etc. Thus, conventional SPECT imaging systems have limitations in design and/or operational characteristics. Moreover, there is limited flexibility in these imaging systems. There is a need for flexibility of an imaging system to be customizable based on specific patient need and operator cost constraints. There is also a need for imaging systems to automatically adjust imaging operations in systems that have changes in configurations.